Surprise Wolves player of 2020-2021

[60WinTim]

Thibs was a pretty hardcore 9-man rotation guy. Ryan showed a desire to use a 10-man rotation. That is what I suspect he will do.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Reading through the tea-leaves from that Saunders presser....I think we are not going to have a particularly tight rotation. I see us playing 10 and may be sometimes 11 guys per night. I predict we have only two players that will average more than 30 MPG and that's KAT and DLO.

I think what these guys are trying to build is a very flexible, adaptive roster that is largely position-less and is constrained by as few dogmas as possible.

Bottom line....I'm not worried about playing time. In fact, some of us may be begging Ryan to tighten the rotation after a few weeks in.

An 11 man rotation is literal insanity in the NBA unless you are like the Bucks and Warriors where the game is over after 3 quarters and you are consistently emptying the bench. Messing with minutes every night is going to make it really difficult for guys to find consistency and find their role on the team. Figure out the best 9 guys and the other 2 will get their PT when guys get injured, COVID or take a night off on a back to back.

I agree with this. Tighten the rotation and get the best players more run. There's nothing wrong with having an okay player fresh and on standby because he's not in the nightly rotation. But also there's no reason to try to force minutes to a guy when someone more productive should be on the floor.

And yes, I'd apply that line of thinking in regards to Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jarred Vanderbilt.

I don't necessarily disagree with you guys philosophically, but we're playing ~ 4 games per week. I just think Ryan is going to deploy a lot of bodies on a lot of nights, while keeping the top of the rotation pretty stable in terms of role and minutes, i.e. KAT, DLO, Rubio, and Beasley.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Okogie will be an even bigger menace on defense this year. He's my pick for biggest surprise, or I'll say most improved. Looking for some Rubio to Okogie lob passes this year

[Monster]

Okogie will be an even bigger menace on defense this year. He's my pick for biggest surprise, or I'll say most improved. Looking for some Rubio to Okogie lob passes this year

Oh yeah shades of Corey Brewer. These guys are gonna love playing with Rubio.

[worldK]

A 9 man rotation is the ideal rotation
for me. Thibs, adelman, Mchale and Flip himself always uses a 9 man rotation.

I can see a 10 man rotation from ryan. You have 6 wings/guards in dlo, rubio, edwards, beasley, culver and okogie that you have to play. Towns/reid is the center rotation. You have rhj and juancho as your pf. Maybe layman, davis and q's guy vandy gets a couple of run at the 4-5 spot. But ryan has to tone it to max 10 guys. You can play 11-12 if your 8-10man are stinking up the place but you have to have 7 guys
at least that you give consistent minutes to develop chemistry and consistency.

[AbeVigodaLive]

There are a lot of games... with less rest than normal.

There will be bouts of Covid, too. A lot of goofiness this season. The Wolves don't have much for top end talent on the wings... but...

There's enough decent bodies/depth on the wings to make it actually an advantage for once under these conditions.

[TheFuture]

I was just thinking about what would need to happen to really elevate the future outlook of this Wolves roster. The obvious answers to that rhetorical question are the continued development of Karl-Anthony Towns and D'Angelo Russell as well as the ascent of first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Both would be major in the Wolves' chances of contending. There is no doubt about that. Most of us would agree that there is incredible room for improvement for all three because of their high talent level and physical gifts.

But the real piece that can change everything for the Wolves is Jarrett Culver. Oddly enough, I think I'm becoming the most optimistic poster here in regards to Culver. Who saw that one coming? Everyone forget your impressions of him through his rookie season. I know his first year was a big disappointment. Wipe the slate clean for a second. Now, think about the "what if" when it comes to him -- if Culver figures it out and becomes what he was projected to be just a year ago. That changes everything for Minnesota whether it's as a valuable role player in between a couple stars or as a trade chip to bring in another star.

Culver has the tools and the talent to be a versatile wing defender that can guard 1-3 affectively. He has the court vision and handle to be a secondary ball-handler in the half-court as well as grab-and-go threat in transition.

He also has some history that suggests his three-point shot is capable of a bounce back next year. He was a 38.2 percent shooter from deep his freshman year in legitimate minutes as a role player. Obviously, we know his shooting regressed his sophomore season with a greater role in the offense, but bear with me. We're establishing some sense of a track record of acceptable shooting ability. The first three months of his rookie year he shot a miserable 27-108 (25-percent) in 31 games. That's not going to get the job done at all. However, the following three months of his rookie year he shot 39-113 (34.5-percent) in 32 games. I'm not saying Culver's the next Klay Thompson or anything comparable, but making 1.2 3P per game on 3.5 3PA in what was essentially the second half of the season isn't terrible. If he's able to build off of that second half and approach the 35 or 36-percent mark, then we really do have value with him as he provides complimentary skills that fit the team needs.

Or forget that his rookie season even happened. He's a 6'7", 194-pound wing with a 6'8" wingspan, 45-inch vertical, and solid fundamentals on the defensive end. He's not even 22-years old yet. I'm not ready to completely rule out Culver as an important part of this franchise. He feels like rotten goods because of his draft slot, the trade up, and other players that outperformed him last year, but these kids develop over time. He could be a key player to watch this upcoming season as his growth could significantly change this franchise's future for the better.

I'm reposting this from the "Timberwolves Roster" thread because it seems fitting. I'm standing by Jarrett Culver as my answer.

I would challenge you for that Culver cheerleading title.

Culver showed so much promise and will surprise. I have zero clue as to why people are tagging him as loose trash after a season where he was forced into a role that he should never have been in.

He definitely needs to improve the shooting. His defense was incredible as a rookie, that is not easily found.

I cannot wait to see him on a team where he plays a role and Dlo, KAT, Rubio run the offense.